


Gift Wrapped

by My Old Works (TheFairMaidenofFandom)



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics), Robin (Comics), Superboy (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Family Bonding, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Gen, Podfic Welcome, Surprise Party, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Tim Drake's Birthday, Tim Drake-centric, a sprinkle of angst, just a dash, no beta we die like jason, that's all this is, tim drake finally turns eighteen, uh, why on earth is that not a tag??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25387741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFairMaidenofFandom/pseuds/My%20Old%20Works
Summary: Tim Drake FINALLY turns eighteen.Happy Birthday to my favorite Robin!
Relationships: Bart Allen & Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent & Cassie Sandsmark, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent
Comments: 9
Kudos: 110





	Gift Wrapped

**Author's Note:**

> I recently read through Tim's Robin run (in two days like a madlad), and I love the TimSteph dynamic?? They were just so cute and adorable. I still don't ship it, and I probably never will, because of the crapshow it was, but them as friends? Count me IN.
> 
> When I say no beta, I mean no beta, no _editing_. Literally none. I finished this story two days ago, and closed the doc as soon as I was done. I haven't even LOOKED at it since then.
> 
> Without further ado, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!

Tim sped into the Cave, and jumped off his bike almost before it stopped. “Steph!”

She turned, eyes wide as she chucked something into a corner. 

“Are you okay? What happened? Dick texted me.”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine, Tim.” She pulled back his cowl, peering into his eyes. “Do you not- did you forget _again_?”

Tim stepped back. “Forget what? Is it something important? An anniversary?”

Steph made a cackle better than some of the ones he’d heard off Arkham inmates. “Follow me, Boy Wonder.”

He followed her up the stairs, still confused. “Is it your birthday?” She laughed harder at that.

“Is someone sick? Or hurt?”

Still snickering, she didn’t answer.

“ _Steph_ , come _on_. Don’t leave me hanging! What am I forgetting?”

She laughed harder, clutching at her stomach. she stopped walking to grab his shoulder for support as she doubled over.

His hands fluttered over her back. “Did you get hit with Joker gas? Is _that_ why I got called over here? Steph? _Steph_?”

She laughed harder and harder, hiccuping into his arm. He picked her up bridal style, and she choked. “I’m taking you back down to the Cave.”

She squirmed out of his hold, choking out, “Fine. I’m fine.” She giggled. “I haven’t laughed like that in _so_ long.”

Tim still looked concerned, but accepted that she was fine. “But seriously, what's going on?”

She wiped her eye. “C’mon.” He saw her pull out her phone, but she ducked his attempts to read the screen.

He followed her to the kitchen.

“ _Surprise_!” Came at him from all directions, and he threw a projectile at the nearest voice on reflex.

“Holy-” Steph ducked the disc, looking at him in shock as Conner jumped out of the way from behind her.

Tim put a hand over his heart, feeling it race. “ _Oh_.”

“Wait, did you actually forget?”

Bruce put a hand on Tim’s shoulder, smiling down at him. “Happy birthday, Tim.”

“Uh, thanks Bruce.” He turned around, seeing Cassie, Bart, Conner, and the rest of his family standing behind him. “Thanks _everyone_ , actually.”

“I can’t _believe_ you forgot your own birthday.”

Steph snorted. “He forgot his sixteenth, too.”

“Wait, really?”

Cassie rolled her eyes and gave him a hug. “Only you, Tim.”

Dick ruffled his hair. “Wanna do presents or cake first?”

“Actually, I want to _change_.” He tugged at the cowl around his neck for emphasis. “You scared the _crap_ out of me with that text.”

Dick smiled. “It got you here, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, but I was sleeping _._ ”

“Well, your birthday is more important.” Tim rolled his eyes and ducked the incoming hair ruffle from Conner. He saw Damian sitting on a stool off to the side, and considered asking for a birthday hug to tease him, but decided against it for his own health.

Tim was about to run up to his room, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Alfred was smiling at him. “Happy birthday, Timothy.”

Tim smiled back, turning around and enveloping the old butler in a tight hug. “Thanks, Alf.” Alfred patted him on the back before pulling away. 

“Go upstairs and change. I’ll keep Master Dick from eating your cake.”

Tim gave a sideways grin. “You’re the best, Alfred.”

“Of course.” Tim took the stairs two at a time, feeling happier than he had in a long time.

Everyone had come together, for _his_ birthday.

The thought made him remember the last time he’d celebrated his birthday with a fond smile. His dad and Dana had brought in all of his friends, the ones they knew of anyway, and they’d had so much _fun_.

God, his _dad._

He stopped in his tracks. 

Tim hadn’t thought about his parents in so long.

What kind of kid was he? You weren’t supposed to forget about your parents. Especially not when they were _gone_.

Tim picked up the picture of the two that he kept on his desk. 

They looked so _happy_. He could remember them sending him the photo in one of their letters, and how much he’d loved reading the stories about their adventures over and over again.

His parents had seemed like the coolest people in the world.

Tim wiped his eye. He missed his dad. They’d been on the road to fixing their relationship before… well, before.

“Tim?” His head shot up.

“Hey Kon.” He set the frame down on the bed. “Sorry, I got distracted.” He grabbed the first two things he could out of his closet and went into the bathroom.

He could tell that Conner had picked up the frame from the tone of his question. “You okay, man?”

Tim slipped his boots off. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. It’s just… the last birthday I celebrated was with him, you know? It’s just weird, I guess. He’s not downstairs, he’s not in Asia or something, and he’s not late.” He let out a shaky sigh. “He’s _gone._ ”

“I’m sorry, dude.”

“Not your fault.” His grip tightened on his shirt. “It’s no one’s fault.”

Except Boomerang’s.

“Nope,” Tim muttered. He wasn’t going to do this, not today. Today was for _him_ , and he was going to enjoy it. He whispered it like a chant. “Today is going to be a good day. Today is going to be a good day.”

Conner sounded like he was smiling. “Yup. Me and Bart went in together for your present. You’ll love it, I swear.”

“I’m sure.” Tim stepped out, ready to head back down.

“Ready?”

“Yeah.” 

* * *

Tim snorted. “Yeah, sure Steph.”

“I’m serious!”

“Mm-hm, and I’m Kim Kardashian.”

“ _Tim_.”

“There is no _way_ you found a hundred bucks just lying on the street in _Gotham_.”

“I did!”

“ _Sure_.”

She huffed and folded her arms. “Well, I used it to buy _your_ present, so there.”

Cassie, from her spot next to Bart, asked the birthday boy. “Tim. What are we doing today?”

He shrugged. “Movie day, I guess?”

“Aw, we did that _last_ time.”

Tim shrugged. “It was fun then, and it’ll be fun now. Maybe even better without _Cole_.”

Stephanie snorted, rolling her eyes.

Bart stopped in his tracks. “Who’s Cole?”

"My old elevator operator. He had the _biggest_ crush on Steph, and was grumpy enough to replace Oscar the Grouch _._ "

"So he like, crashed your birthday party?"

"Nah. I invited him in."

Bart squinted at him. "Why?"

Tim shrugged. "He was just sitting in the elevator, and we had pizza and stuff. It'd be mean to just leave him out there."

Dick shook his head. "Only you, Tim."

* * *

"I can't believe you're making us _all_ rewatch _Star Wars_."

"Look, I haven't binged these in _years_ , Dick. And I probably won't for a while. So we're doing it today."

"You're literally mouthing the words!"

"They're my favorite movies!"

* * *

"I'm starving."

"Tim, can we get food?"

Tim snorted, pulling his eyes from the screen. “I’m not stopping you from eating, Kon. Go ahead.”

“It’s _your_ birthday.”

“Oh, yeah.” Snorts went up. “Uh.” He turned puppy-eyes on Alfred. “Can we _please_ get pizza?”

Alfred huffed from his seat. “Only this once.”

Tim and Dick cheered along with Bart and Conner. Bart stood up, stretching. “Same as always?”

Tim shook his head. “Add five more. One vegetarian, three pepperoni, and one hawaiian.”

“Gotcha.” Tim patted his back pocket,

“My wallet’s in my room.”

Bruce held up his hand. “ _I_ _’ll_ pay.”

“Bruce, I can get it. It’s no problem.”

“It’s your birthday. I’m paying.” Tim rolled his eyes, but reclined back onto Cassie without another protest.

Bruce handed a wad of cash to Bart, who eyed the money with fear and awe. “I can’t believe I’m gonna use _Batman’s_ money for _food_.”

“Bart, I literally work for him. Our food money usually stems from Bruce.”

“Yeah, but still.”

“Just go get the food,” Conner whined. “I’m hungry.”

“Fine, fine.” He disappeared.

“Does he always get you guys’ food?”

Tim nodded, “He can go anywhere in the world in seconds. It’s easiest for him to go.”

“That’s so _cool_.” They sat back, getting comfortable again.

A few minutes later, they heard a call of, “I’m back!” Bart had a huge stack of pizzas in his arms. “Are you sure this is enough?”

“Yeah, that should be fine. No one here eats as much as you two.”

Dick rubbed his hands together. “Speak for yourself. I can _eat_.”

Bart looked around the room. “Uh, where should I put these?”

Alfred sighed, standing up to help him. “I suppose, since all rules seem to be disregarded today, you might as well set them on the coffee table.”

“Thanks!” He set them down, and everyone got up to grab a slice.

Or five, in his case.

Roughly ten minutes later, Steph looked back down at the boxes, and then back up at the three metas in shock. “Did you guys seriously eat five pizzas?”

Bart nodded. “Yeah. Three for me and two for Kon and one for Cassie and Tim.” He curled his lip at the mere thought of _one_ pizza each.

She blinked. “How are you still _skinny_?” He opened his mouth but she kept talking. “That was rhetorical.”

Tim leaned forward to grab another slice. "He's lucky. No weight-watching ever."

"Lucky is an _understatement._ "

* * *

"Tim, we watched Star Wars. Can we do something else now?"

"We watched _one_." He shook his head. "We can do presents?"

Bart pumped his fist. "Yes! Me and Conner have the _best_ present."

Tim groaned as he got up. "I'm going to have to eat nothing but smoothies for a _week_ if I want to fit into my suit." 

Bart snatched up a _beautifully_ wrapped box that was almost as big as Tim. 

"Ours first!"

"Any surprises?"

"Not this time."

Timhuffed, and ripped open the package.

He first pulled out a tin of his _favorite_ caffeinated hot chocolate. "Oh God, thank you. I was gonna have to order more in a few weeks."

"Keep going!"

Next, he pulled out a Batman snuggie that had Dick chuckling from where he was leaning on the back of Tim's chair. Tim put it off to the side, and reached in again. His hand caught on something plastic, and he frowned, grasping it and pulling it up. The box almost came with it, and he had to hold it down with his feet so he could see what it was.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" He shredded open the 5lb bag of marshmallows and popped three in his mouth. "I love you guys."

"It's supposed to go with the cocoa."

"Thanks guys. Really." He offered some of the little confections to those around him, the only ones to turn down the offer Alfred and Damian. He sat back in his chair, and asked, "Who's next?"

"That'd be me." Cassie handed him a gift bag. "I don't know if I'll be able to top the marshmallows, but I think you'll like it. Took me _ages_."

Tim moved the tissue paper, and reached down to hold a little book. He gave a quiet gasp as he flipped through the pages, seeing pictures and newspaper clippings of all of them, both in costume and not, all the way from their Young Justice days to now, with plenty of empty pages for more to be added. 

"Aw."

He read the little note on the front cover that said 'Happy Eighteenth, Wonder Boy!' in Cassie's messy cursive, and smiled. "Cass, I don't even know what to say.. just, _thank you_."

She gave him a squeezing hug, and then a smug smirk to Bart and Conner. 

"You should've gone last. Definitely." Steph grumbled, setting her bag on the table.

"Presents don't have to be super meaningful to be good, Steph."

"Yeah, I know. Just open it."

He did, and found a certain hoodie in his hands. "Is this the-"

"Eighty dollar Iron Man hoodie you used to talk about all the time? Yeah."

He slipped it around his shoulders, laughing. "I completely forgot about this. It's as good as it looked online, maybe even better. Though... I'm not sure when I can wear it." He looked up, only to come nose-to-camera with her phone as she snapped a photo. "Thanks, Steph."

Dick slid a small box in front of him, resting his chin on the top of Tim's head until he was pushed off. "I'm up now."

Tim fixed his hair, not that it did much, and pulled off the lid. He snorted. “Thanks, Dick.”

“I figured that you already have everything else, so I might as well go for it.”

The socks were _horrible_ , and Tim loved them.

“You definitely went for it. Like, _wow_. These are horrible.”

“I know. That’s why I got ‘em.”

Tim rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide the smile on his face as he put them back in the box and set it to the side. 

Bruce set down his box, interjecting, “I believe that makes it _my_ turn.” Tim leaned away from it, tapping it with one finger. Nothing happened.

“Tim, what the heck are you doing?”

“I’m not dealing with this again.” He turned it over in his hand, checking for any kind of surprise.

Bruce chuckled, making Bart jump. “It’s a normal gift, Tim.”

Tim stopped, giving Bruce a tongue-in-cheek smile. “Better safe than sorry.”

Bruce patted his shoulder. “Just open the box.”

“Alright, alright.” Tim opened it, and found a watch. Inscribed on the inside was, ‘To Tim, from Bruce. Never forget the way back home.’

Tim grinned at it, slipping it onto his wrist. “ _This_ is a _perfect_ gift, Bruce. It's got the sentimental value, the practicality, and it won't give me a mental breakdown because I thought my pseudo-grandfather was going to die in an apocalyptic version of my city."

"Funny," Bruce said dryly.

"Tim, what kinda presents are you getting?"

"The kind that come from Batman."

Another gift was slapped down on the table in front of him, making him startle. Damian glared at him from the side. "Richard said I had to get you something. Don't expect much."

Tim opened and closed his mouth, before cautiously peeling back the wrapping.

" _Wow_." He picked up the frame, running his fingers over the glass. "Damian, _wow_. Thanks. Dick told me you liked drawing, but this is _really_ good. You could _sell_ this stuff if all your work is even half this good."

The boy scoffed. "My work is worth far more than most could possibly afford."

" _Still_. I can't draw to save my life, but I've been to enough galleries and stuff to know that this is _good_. You could make serious cash."

He heard another huff, and Damian was gone.

Bart peered at it. "Yeah, that's _really_ good."

"Isn't it? I'm gonna put it up at my place when I get back tonight."

"I'm surprised he gave you anything."

"Really, it's the nicest thing he's done for me." He turned around. "You're doing good work, Dick."

"He's always had good potential, Tim. Something about you just always seems to set him off."

“What now?”

“We could do board games. Or something else. I don’t really care.”

“Tim, you have to pick. It's _your_ birthday,” Bart said.

“Board games, then. I just want a nice, lazy day.”

“I got it! What do you want? Apples to Apples, Pictionary, or Taboo?”

“Taboo. We have more players, so we can do more teams.”

“I wanna be team captain!”

“Steph, you always cheat.”

“I do _not_. You just read the cards wrong.”

He gave her a deadpan look. “Even my dad caught you.”

“Your dad lied.”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the Batman snuggie, wrapping it around himself, hoodie and all. “I’m going to the living room. We can do cake later.”

Conner floated behind him for a few seconds before he was tugged down by Cassie, “No powers in Gotham, remember? Batman’ll _kill_ us.”

Bruce chuckled, and they both jumped a foot in the air, Cassie staying there. She lowered herself down with a hand over her heart.

“I don’t kill, Ms. Sandsmark. I’m not going to do anything to you if you forget, other than a reminder not to use them. But I do appreciate the mindfulness.”

“Uh, thank you, Mr. Wayne.”

“Thank you for coming, by the way. I’m sure you could’ve just waited until the weekend to see Tim.”

Conner relaxed ever so slightly. “I could never abandon Tim on his birthday.”

“And I'm sure he appreciates that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm now taking requests and prompts on my Tumblr, @the-fair-maiden-of-fandom!


End file.
